Little wonder the Orange came away with a 57-45 victory Saturday at the Carrier Dome that was barely in any doubt during the second half even with Syracuse struggling a bit with its shooting.

The full rundown:

EFFECTIVE FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

(.5 x 3FG + FGM) / FGA

Syracuse: .383 (4 3FGM, 21 FGM, 60 FGA)

North Carolina: .412 (2 3FGM, 20 FGM, 51 FGA)

The Orange wasn’t great from 2-point range (17-for-41; 41.5 percent) and not remotely efficient from the perimeter (4-for-19; 21.1 percent). But it played plenty good enough on defense and was helped by the fact North Carolina has scant shooting options from the outside.

Effective field goal percentage hasn’t been Syracuse’s strongest category in these breakdowns on several occasions, but it does other things so well (notably take care of the ball, force turnovers and grab offensive rebounds) that it tends not to matter all that much. That was certainly true Saturday.

TURNOVER PERCENTAGE

TO/possessions

Syracuse: 16.3 percent (10 turnovers/61 possessions)

North Carolina: 23.0 percent (14 turnovers/61 possessions)

On the surface, this edge goes to Syracuse. After all, the Orange wasted four fewer possessions than North Carolina did.

However, the Tar Heels wound up with a 14-9 advantage in points off turnovers. Call it a wash; the Tar Heels got some extra points as a result of Syracuse’s giveaways, but they still couldn’t afford to give away trips down the floor nearly a quarter of the time.

Syracuse got help from nearly everyone on the offensive glass. Rakeem Christmas and Jerami Grant both had four offensive rebounds, while Tyler Ennis and Baye Moussa Keita both had three grabs of Orange misses.

As for North Carolina … its interior issues, which have been a factor for two seasons now, surfaced again. Syracuse held a 12-2 edge on second-chance points, a good reflection of its strong edge in second-chance opportunities.

Syracuse didn’t make many trips to the line, but was fairly decent (11-for-15, 73.3 percent) when it got there. Meanwhile, North Carolina didn’t get many free throws when it was still remotely close (just three in the first half) and then was dreadful when it actually got there (3-for-9).

North Carolina was shooting 50.4 percent at the foul line in its losses coming into Saturday. That number didn’t get any better against the Orange.